Ben Carson Made A Painfully Tone-Deaf Comment On Slavery & Twitter Went Bonkers

Andrea González-RamírezMar 6, 2017 5:00 PM

Take a deep breath, everyone. Yet another member of President Trump's cabinet is under fire for making offensive, historically inaccurate comments about Black history.

The guilty party this time? Dr. Ben Carson, the current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and a former presidential candidate.

His sin? Referring to slaves as immigrants. Yep, you read that right. Carson, a Black man and famous neurosurgeon, said slaves were immigrants.

Man, I really wish I was kidding.

"That's what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity," Carson said while speaking to HUD employees. "There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land."

If it sounds so utterly absurd that you kind of don't believe it, well, see for yourself:

Let's repeat that: "There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less."

Where do we even begin?

Let's start simple: Dr. Carson, slaves weren't immigrants.

Slaves were ripped away from their homes and brought by force to a strange land where they were sold into lifelong servitude. They were often beaten, raped, and killed at the hands of their masters. They didn't choose to come here.

They didn't work "longer and harder" for "less." They worked for nothing. The only way their descendants were able to "pursue prosperity and happiness in this land" was through shedding the blood of thousands of brave men and women.

If, like me, Carson's remarks make you want to scream, please take comfort in the fact that you're not alone. Twitter users are right there with you — and they're dragging Carson without mercy.